IVF will save Hungary's demographic crisis. The state is now nationalizing several IVF clinics and Hungarian couples will be able to raise children by artificial means for free from summer on.

Hungary is one of the countries in Europe where the population is declining fastest. In the last ten years, the number of inhabitants has dropped by 300,000 and if the trend is not broken, the country's population will shrink by four million, from ten to six million by the year 2070.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán classifies childbearing as a matter of strategic national importance and has put in place an "Action Plan for the Protection of Families". As much as 4.8% of the national income is spent on support for families and measures to increase childbirth. Generous loans and grants to families who raise children should make the kids jump in the bed straw and those who do not succeed that way should now be able to have children through IVF completely free of charge. The state even takes over six IVF clinics to show how urgent the issue is. But not all Hungarians can take part in the reforms, and the question is what effect they have.

White middle-class children are welcome

The vision that Orbán and his party Fidesz have is clear and is based on the party's value-conservative foundation. The demographic crisis should not be solved through immigration, but only with "Hungarian children".

The children should not only be white, they should be born within marriage, and divorce is not to be considered. As the reforms are designed today, they consciously favor white married heterosexual middle-class couples.

Gay, single or divorced persons may not apply for the generous loans offered by the Hungarian state.

All grants and loans are only given to married couples with three children, or who are planning to have at least three children. If you succeed in complying with the requirements and deliver at least three children, the state donates the money, if you differ, you must repay them as soon as possible and with interest.

"Childless people stand on the side of death"

One of Fidesz's founders, Lázslo Köver, who today is the Hungarian parliament's president once ruled from the pulpit that childless people "are not normal" and that they stand on "the side of death". He also said that it is a public and not a private matter to raise children.

But several Hungarians I spoke to find it difficult to live up to the demands of the state. They feel that it is difficult to dare to take the step when the wages are low and the employment contracts are short or non-existent. Those most fertile years are spent on pure survival, they say. The children are postponed and so suddenly it is too late, then no free IVF treatment in the world does not help.

IVF ineffective against brain drain

According to Hungarian researchers, it is also not realistic to solve the demographic question through IVF. Studies show that IVF children can never be so numerous that they fill the void that has arisen after 38 years of population decline. Not least because most IVF attempts are still unsuccessful after all.

Since 2012, the number of women who can or want to have children has decreased by 20%, according to the Hungarian Statistics Office.

At the same time, more than half a million Hungarians also left the country during the same period. At the same time, those who move are the ones Orbán would like to see raising children - well-educated Hungarians with ambitions, who, however, do not feel that they can realize in their home country.

The international studies conducted show that the effect of financial instruments is not sufficient. There are other factors that play a greater role, such as equality and the future. When people experience quality of life and feel secure, they also raise children.